season's first grill

Burgers. Shitakes. Garlic. Swiss cheese. Toasted buns.

out back

People like to smoke behind my office. Sometimes their cigarettes don't make it into the proper receptacles.

hiroshi's tops

Peanut butter lids. Acorns. Bobbers. Hiroshi goes green.

earth day festival

Today I witnessed Paneurhythmy. It looks like a dance. Slow, deliberate but gentle movements. Eyes closed. Energy felt in the palms of hands. Small paces follow a leader in a circle.

trio in pink

Triumph Grill's raspberry mojito


Nic


Park

a beauty

Shalonda was my student at the Minority Journalism Workshop in the fall. To her, sometimes I'm Elie, other times Miss G. We talk pictures, problems, politics and plenty more. Her prom dress is a good color for her, not just because she looks nice in yellow but also because it is one of Mizzou's colors. She starts at the University of Missouri this fall. Cheers to Shalonda on her prom night. She makes me proud, proud, proud.

prom prep

london layover

Royal Oak Station


On the Jubilee line en route from Westminster Station to Paddington Station



The Eye


Big Ben [Note the time. My plane left a little after 11 a.m. Eeek! What was I doing in central London?]


On the Heathrow Express at Paddington Station

Six-hour layover. I cleared customs and left myself enough time to get lost multiple times. I spent more money during my three hours in central London than I did my entire time in Uganda. The only thing I spent money on was transportation - Heathrow Express and Underground. I rode lines east to west, north to south, west to east and south to north. My goal was to see Big Ben, and I had a rough idea how to find him. I walked south (I think?) from King's Cross until I hit the River Thames. Big Ben was on the horizon, almost like a mirage after all my walking and overnight flight. I chased him until I was standing under his hands. Snap. Then back underground to catch the tube (and my flight) home. I didn't even have time for fish and chips.

ultimate candy drawer(s)

Last week I photographed a 12,000-square-foot home. After I left, I wasn't really thinking about the house; I was thinking about the candy drawers. The owner of the home has a theater in the basement with hand-painted murals to emulate the famous Fox Theater in St. Louis. He says, "You can't have a theater without a concession stand." Mom and Dad, I would have settled for one candy drawer.

marathon man

On Sunday I covered the Go! St. Louis Marathon for the Post-Dispatch. I wrapped the video up just in time to walk down to the finish line to see my friend's dad, Dennis Doyle, finish the race. He turned 60 this year and decided to walk the marathon. After the race I asked him how it felt. "Easier than I thought," he said. Seeing Dennis inspired me; I hope it does the same for you. My goal this year is a 5K, maybe a half marathon if I carve out some decent training time. Anyone want to join me?

[Please forgive the raindrops on the lens. It was unavoidable ... ]

wish you were here?

I have leftovers! [Not photographed are the white chocolate covered strawberries and the lemon sherbet.]

meet christine

Looking for something to do tomorrow? Stop by Argonne Gallery in Kirkwood for their jewelry trunk show. My friend Christine is one of the fine artists featured. Her stuff makes it worth the stop alone.

nic's place

Who needs art on the walls when the sun creates it for you each night? Beautiful.

african farewell

This concludes my Africa posts. Perhaps I'll go back through my photos and add a photo here or there in the next few months, but I'm ready to bring this blog back to my present life. These photographs represent my last day in Africa. I can honestly say I was sad to leave. Sure, I missed my friends and the normalcy of American life, but I could have stayed longer. "Be more relational," were Daudi's parting words. He encouraged me to focus on relationships and not worry about the "other stuff." I've tried to do this since my return. I try not to watch the clock or worry if I'm a few minutes late. I try to make the people I'm with a priority. I have a long way to go, but his words still echo, bounce around in the walls of my mind.

kweranga

[tip: view the audio slideshow in fullscreen mode for a better experience]

My reason for going to Africa? Kweranga. It's an introduction ceremony in Tooro culture. Daudi brings "his village" to Kellen's village to ask for her hand in marriage. We travel to her home, after our briefing from Daudi's spokesperson. The ceremony is in Tooro. We listen and smile but don't understand.

We arrive by van and wait for an invitation to "enter." Once welcomed, we come with gifts for the family: green bags filled with clothes and fabric, calabashes, crates of soda and a television and DVD player. We kneel to the elders and walk backward to our seats. A handful of us are invited into the family home where we drink milk from a calabash in unison. We return to our seats. A group of a few hundred face us, judge us and decide to accept us.

music credits:
1 - four bored at the kitchen table in Uganda
2 - same as above, except we used our voices instead of fingers this time
3 - the crowd at Kellen's home
4 - dj music

hay más

Just a visual reminder that there is more to come from Africa. Here are two snaps from Uganda. I should have the kweranga multimedia posted by tomorrow night or Tuesday at the latest.

come on in

sun studio

Elvis. Johnny Cash. Carl Perkins. Jerry Lee Lewis. And more. Oww!

memphis mayhem

The Bar-B-Q Shop


Ernestine & Hazel's


Raiford's

i ♥ picnics

engagement

Continuing the African detour as I work on the project, here are some engagement portraits I shot this weekend. Yes, there are some more ordinary looking ones as well, haha. After the Botanical Gardens, I took them out back to my alley where we found a 6-foot-wide, broken mirror to play with. Awesomeness. Congratulations to Katie and Josh!

forgive me

It's true. I have several more photos from Africa, but I've been busy. Just when I sat down last night with the computer (and some Thin Mints), I got called out on spot news. A cop was shot. Luckily, he's okay, but I didn't get to blog. I'm working on a small multimedia piece from the kweranga ceremony. I'll hopefully get it posted this week. In the meantime, I decided to post photos from today's Cardinal home opener, which is the other thing keeping my plate full. *Deep breath* We'll return to Africa soon!